The Royal Cruising Club Pilotage Foundation publishes pilotage information through books and a range of media acessible through its own website www.rccpf.org.uk.
Reviews of the most recent RCCPF Publications and other books written by RCC members are shown below.
Cruising Guide to the Netherlands and Belgium is a new first edition from the Royal Cruising Club Pilotage Foundation.
Skip Novak on Sailing: Words of Wisdom from 50 Years Afloat is a fascinating collection of articles contributed to Yachting World between 2014 and 2023.
A Cruising Adventure and How-To Guide by Nicholas Coghlan
Royal Cruising Club Pilotage Foundation Balearic Islands 12th Edition, David and Susie Baggaley
Andrew Wilkes reviews Marek Jurczynski's publication
Skipper Lynam developed his love of the sea and sailing as a schoolboy at King William’s College on the Isle of Man becoming, in time, a successful canoe sailor.
Review of Royal Cruising Club Pilotage Foundation publication ‘Norway, Mainland coast, fjord and islands, including Svalbard and Jan Mayen’ 4th Edition
Bermuda, Azores, Madeira Group, Canary Islands and Cape Verdes:
Editor: Jane Russell, RCC, RCCPF Publisher: Royal Institution of Navigation, 2020. Available as a free download
Nigel Wollen reviews Mark Fishwick's West Country Cruising Companion
An excellent pilot by Madeleine and Stephan Strobel updated May 2020.
4th Edition. By Rod and Lucinda Heikell. A Review of this welcome update by Will Pedder
This practical guide deserves a place of honour on the chart table of any sailing yacht venturing to the Chilean channels or, as Bill Tillman referred to them, ‘the magical place of the unknown’.
"The book is a triumph, and represents a significant raising of the bar. Jo is to be congratulated, and I do hope readers will be enthused sufficiently to cruise the South China Sea."
This book is a very practical guide to long distance ocean sailing, compiled by a very accomplished and experienced practitioner and aimed at the would-be ocean sailor.
This meticulously updated 8th edition invites the cruising sailor to safely explore numerous exquisite locations, reassured by the author's wealth of experience.
Our review of September 2019 updated to include CCA review as a download. This book is not a “how to do it” manual, more a compendium of the most important issues.....
"I commend Christopher and the RCCPF team on producing an excellent book that will be an invaluable resource to anyone making this trip (Trinidad to Tobago) for the first time"
Reviewed by Peter Bruce who says: "This Second Edition is thoroughly comprehensive and gives those with it a huge advantage over those without."
Reviewer Jay Devonshire writes: "An up to date Pilot Book is an essential, and this latest publication is to to be recommended."
For many a sailor, crossing the Atlantic Ocean is their holy grail, the equivalent of scaling Mount Everest for a climber. Both are immense challenges and preparation is key.
The RCC Pilotage Foundation has recently brought out a fourth edition, published by Imray, of their extensive guide to The Baltic Sea and its Approaches.
‘Gibraltar and the five Mediterranean costas of Spain form the subject matter of this pilot.’
Paul Heiney's lavishly illustrated book warrants a well-deserved place in the chart table and has plenty of general interest for those seeking inspiration for their next cruise.
This is a beautifully produced and extremely well structured guide to this very long and diverse cruising ground. Reviewed by Katharine Ingram
The Canary Islands Guide is very much a guide for tourists rather than a pilot book, but as such it has the information for a touring yachtsman to enjoy these islands.
For such a small country The Netherlands has an amazing 6,000km of navigable waterways and there is something there for everyone.
The revised edition of the Arctic and Northern Waters Pilot is a compelling volume that takes the reader into waters that few will travel, for those who go there it is essential reading.
Reviewers Katharine & Peter Ingram write: "This RCC Pilotage Foundation book is a beautifully produced and extremely well structured guide to the vast cruising area that is the Pacific Ocean."
The 3rd Edition of this very useable cruising companion is brought right up to date (2016) by Derek Aslett. Published by Fernhurst Books and available through Imray and many local chandleries.
The newly published third edition of the RCC Pilotage Foundation Norway pilot book by Judy Lomax is reviewed below by Madeleine Strobel
A Sixth Edition of the RCCPF Atlantic Islands Pilot has just been published by Imray. It is reviewed by Alan Spriggs (RCC) below.
This is the 7th edition of this well-known and popular book. There is much that is new in this edition, all beautifully explored and explained.
Does this pilot guide achieve its goal of providing the detailed information needed to navigate safely all 600 miles of the fascinating and challenging Atlantic coast of Spain and Portugal?
The undoubted answer is yes it does. It is an easy read, illustrated by detailed chartlets and annotated photographs. Providing local knowledge that is essential for the enjoyment of cruising this wonderful varied coast. It also highlights potential dangers that may not be obvious in reading standard charts.
I may be biased, as I love cruising this varied coastline – choose any part from the Rías in the north to the Río Guadiana in the south. The book gives detailed background and practical information. It’s like having a local sailor as part of your crew.
Each area has its own special attraction: the rugged, rocky and wooded Rías of Galicia, dramatic cliffs and natural beauty of west Portugal, golden beaches, lively resorts and hidden lagoons of the Algarve, and the maritime history of Andalucia and Gibraltar. The book contains a wealth and depth of information, which makes for safe navigation and also makes you want to experience the history, and beauty captured by the many photographs and descriptions.
Valuable general information about the 600 miles of coast is provided, for example, the best sources of weather forecasts, links to information about Orca interactions and safety protocols, and the ‘Flag’ system on the status of harbour access along the Portuguese coast.
The detail in this pilot is to be highly commended and brings the book to life, for example, telling us that the inimitable harbour master in Muros is called Pedro and the useful tip that ‘a bicycle would quickly prove its worth’ to reach the facilities at Portimoa from some of the berths.
Crucially, there is wide ranging and detailed safety information – from the regular and concise ‘warnings’ where needed, to the many more detailed descriptions, for example, that any attempted entrance to the western entrance to Foz do Minho in north Portugal ‘is fundamentally shallow, rock-strewn and not safely navigable by a stranger. It should not be attempted’.
Pilot books have a long history, one of the earliest surviving is the Greek Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax which provided 4th century bc sailors with crucial information for safe passages before the invention of the magnetic compass. In our modern times of GPS, touch of a button weather forecasting, and world-wide available internet connections, this pilot book brings this coastline alive – it’s a good read as well as an essential companion when sailing here.
